This week’s Rapids player-ratings come care of Kevin Villegas, a Denver native who has been following the Rapids since their inaugural season, plays midfield himself and works as a producer for a local advertising agency.

Every time a Rapids player went to ground, fans of Seattle Sounders FC waited with bated breath.

Brian Mullan’s first trip to Seattle since breaking the leg of Sounders forward Steve Zakuani in April of 2011 on a hard slide tackle didn’t quite end the way the Rapids hoped. To be sure, the Rapids looked dangerous at times but never quite threatened the goal.

The Sounders really only had three opportunities to score, but a header scored on a set piece by Zach Scott proved decisive as the Sounders took down the boys in burgundy 1-0 in front of a crowd of 38,000-plus in Seattle. The Rapids now have nine points on six games on the season.

The game started physically and ended chippy, with four players picking up yellows. A neutral observer couldn’t help but think these teams don’t particularly like each other.

When it comes down to style of play, the Rapids continue to endure growing pains in the installation of their 4-3-3. They play better, and look more comfortable, when they play the way Manager Oscar Pareja wants them to –- technically, with possession and with short passes along the ground.

The Sounders were better in possession, better technically and better on the scoreboard, where it really counts. And for once, the Rapids can’t blame the outcome of this game on Baldoermo Toledo, the referee.

Striker Eddie Johnson wound up with the Seattle Sounders Friday, after a trade by way of the MLS expansion Montreal Impact.

The Sounders sent Montreal Mike Fucito and Lamar Neagle an hour after Montreal took the former U.S. national team player with an allocation pick. Johnson had most recently been playing in Greece.

The Rapids had expressed interest in Johnson but were thwarted partly through the work of one of the team’s most popular former players. Chris Henderson, now the Sounders technical director, told Major League Soccer’s website he had his eye on Johnson for some time.

“Eddie is a high-quality striker who is a very good finisher,” said a statement from Henderson, who previously coached Johnson at Kansas City. “We are very excited to have him join Sounders FC in our quest for another successful season.”

Johnson scored 15 goals in 24 games with Kansas City in 2007 before going to Europe where he struggled to find his footing, bouncing between clubs.

Rapids forward Conor Casey battles for the ball against D.C. United in an MLS game last Saturday. Colorado will play in the CONCACAF Champions League in August.

A good news-bad news situation for the Rapids after they learned their draw for the 2011-12 CONCACAF Champions League.

The good news: Colorado conveniently missed the monsters of Mexico. A good turn, as Mexican teams have dominated the tournament in recent years (winning the past six) and overall (winning 27 of 48 trophies since 1962).

The bad news: The Rapids were placed in Group B with Real España, last year’s Honduran Liga Nacional apertura champion.

Colorado and España are the two auto-qualifiers into the group stage. They will be joined by the winners of preliminary round matches between Mexico’s Santos Laguna vs. Honduras’ Olimpia, and El Salvador’s Isidro Metapan vs. a to-be-determined Caribbean Football Union team.

In that game, Chivas USA’s Mondaini came at Morales from behind with a misguided sweep. And in the days after it was learned Morales had broken his ankle, Utah fans called for a big suspension for Mondaini. Their argument used Brian Mullan’s 10-game suspension as precedent, from the Colorado midfielder’s hard tackle of Seattle’s Steve Zakuani on April 28.

But the MLS disciplinary committee disagreed. They gave Morales just a four-game suspension.

Are they different tackles? Did Mondaini deserve as harsh a punishment as the Rapids’ Mullan got? Was Mullan’s tackle six game worse than Mondaini’s’?

How do you judge? What is the criteria? What does this say about MLS? Will we see more broken bones in coming weeks?

These and many more questions are swirling around the league this weekend. But for evidence either way, here are the two incidents in video, for comparison’s sake:

The aftermath of Brian Mullan’s misguided tackle on Seattle midfielder Steve Zakuani is just beginning.

Mullan’s challenge, which resulted in his red-card ejection in the third minute, broke Zakuani’s leg. The AP reported that Zakuani had surgery to repair a fractured right tibia and fibula, and he’ll stay in a Denver hospital for several days under observation.

As of Saturday afternoon, MLS officials had yet to vet a punishment on Mullan. But a suspension was likely to come.

While the Rapids have dominated in Commerce City this season — they have three home wins in three tries in MLS — the Sounders are lacking on the road.

In three games outside Seattle, coach Sigi Schmid’s crew are winless, with a loss and two ties. But that wasn’t Schmid’s plan. He was counting on four points on a two-game road trip — three in a victory over Philadelphia last week and one for a tie against Colorado on Friday night.

But the Union led 1-0 in injury time last week before Seattle salvaged a point with a late goal. That leaves Schmid needing a victory over Colorado to save his hopes.

Daniel was first introduced to soccer at age 6 while living in Düsseldorf, West Germany. He played youth soccer in West Germany until age 9, and then in Seattle, where he is originally from. He works as the day breaking news editor and also contributes on the Rapids beat.